


A Good Night Sleep

by Knightslayer428



Series: The Heater And Her Snowflake [3]
Category: New Mutants (Comics), X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Illyana Needs A Hug, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28055406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knightslayer428/pseuds/Knightslayer428
Summary: Illyana has always had trouble expressing her emotions, she finds it difficult to do.So, how does she find a way to tell you she’s having nightmares that make her lose sleep?
Relationships: Illyana Rasputin/Reader
Series: The Heater And Her Snowflake [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1943761
Kudos: 6





	A Good Night Sleep

  
It’s the month of December. It’s that time of the month for New York, it starts snowing more often. The weather starts dropping drastically, the small ponds in Central Park start becoming little skating rinks.

Christmas shopping is on everyone’s top list, it’s the holidays after all. The city is suddenly thrown into the Christmas spirit, Christmas themes all around the billboards, shops, you name it.

Nightfall doesn’t get any better. Good thing the mansion isn’t stationed by or in the city. But, the city is still pretty noisy.

When the sunset hits the mansion’s windows, Illyana grows anxious. She _loves_ sleeping. She can’t love it if she’s being haunted by her kidnapper, she’s able to get a decent amount of sleep.

Three to four hours, until she’s woken up to her body sweating ferociously. Her blonde bangs sticking to her drenched forehead, her breathes coming out as uneven pants and gasps.

Her hands grip her blanket with force. She tries to keep her breathing stable. She turns her head to see if she woke her roommate, Kitty. A sigh of relief leaves her lips, her best friend still sleeping peacefully.

She leaves their shared room with silence, she takes another deep breathe. Illyana can feel a headache starting to form, her mouth feels dehydrated.   
  


Making her way down to the kitchen for a cup of water, wooden stairs creaking under her weight. It’s doesn’t bother her, mutants of all ages are always sneaking out of their rooms for reasons.

Hitting the first floor, she’s feels a little bit at ease, still on edge. Her mind flashing her pieces from her nightmare, how she got tortured, abused. How she couldn’t defend herself, sitting there, sobbing for her older brother to save her.

The corners of her eyes start to water, she shakes them away, not wanting to cry right now. The tv’s on, playing some sort of Christmas marathon run. The blonde raises a brow, it’s not surprising. 

  
Kids tend to forget they turned the tv on, bolting up the stairs to their dorms, trying not to get caught by one of the X-Men.

She shrugs, guess she can just relax on the couch and watch the Grinch. She won’t be sleeping for a while, walking into the kitchen. The light’s already on, a figure standing in front of the microwave, watching whatever’s in there.

The silhouette of this person looks familiar, the person mumbles something. Illyana can’t hear, but from the words she caught. Sounds like this person is complaining about the networks choice of Christmas movies.

Taking steps, the floor still creaking under her footing. The floor’s cold, and she wished she had put her house slippers on. The figure jerks their head, in the direction they heard the creak come from.

”Oh, Illya. Whatcha’ doing up so late?” Another sigh left her lips, just her teammate. 

  
“Just...a cup of water...” She stumbles over her words, almost forgetting to speak English for a moment. You smile, your grin always calming her down. “A cup of water? Sure! One cup coming right up.” You joked playfully.

Opening one cabinet door with one swift motion and the fridge door with another swift movement. You poor the water to the rim of the plastic cup, Illyana takes it.

Taking a big gulp from the drink, she moans feeling the cold liquid coat her once dry throat. She places the now empty cup on the counter, dragging her arm over her mouth to wipe any water.   
  


“Why you up?” You look towards the tv, than the microwave. “I felt like drinking hot chocolate, decided to put some Christmas movies on for the Christmas vibe.” You gave a lazy shrug, it’s wasn’t that special to you.

Illyana gulps, feeling a lump stuck in her throat. She wants to tell you, she wants to talk to you about her struggles. But how does she do it? Illyana has always struggled to express her emotions after Limbo. She told herself to always keep her feelings in check, but she can talk to you with no boundaries.

She doesn’t want to keep secrets from you. You always told her to talk to you if something’s bothering her. _The only thing bothering me is myself and my damn nightmare._

“You okay? You seem awfully quiet.” You break the silence, the movie still playing in the background. She takes another big breath, swallowing all her doubts along with her shames.   
  


“C-Can I talk to you about something...personal?” You stop your hand from grabbing the microwave door, you stare at your girlfriend, face unconsciously softening at her words.

”Yeah. What’s troubling you? Is it eating at you again?” You observe from where you stand, her silhouette slouching slightly, almost like she’s trying to make herself small, unnoticeable. Eyes drawn downwards, not finding enough courage to look you in the eye.

You feel your face soften even more. “Another nightmare?” She nods her head, confirming your assumption. You quickly grab the hot beverage, “You like marshmallows?” The sudden question threw the blonde off.

With a brow raised, face coated in pure confusion. She answers, “Huh?” You ask again, a soft smile changing your features. “Do you like marshmallows? Or do I have to translate to you in Russian?”   
  


Illyana eases up at your teasing, wiping her lightly clammy palms on her sleep shorts. “Da. We...we only had marshmallows when papa went out into the city.” You hum, grabbing a handful of marshmallows and throwing them into the hot cup.

”Do you measure?” You huff a breathe out. “Who measures how much marshmallows they want? Cheap skates?” Dropping one last fluffy, white cloud. You present the hot chocolate to Illyana with a goofy smile.

”Here! A nice perfect hot drink to warm your insides!” The blonde continues to look on with more confusion. “I thought this was yours?” Your smile softens again.   
  


You grab Illyana’s hands, making her cold fingers loop around the mug’s handle. “My mom use to make hot coco for me when I had traumatic nightmares. It would ease me a lot as a kid, it wouldn’t clear all my nightmares but it help take the nasty things off my mind.”

Illya smiled, when she had nightmares as a young child. She told Piotr about it, the older brother would baby her. Saying it was just something her mind conjectured up, it wasn’t real outside the mind. Now, she finds her brother’s words hard to believe.

She takes the mug tightly, holding the object close to her chest. Warmth traveling up her hands though her body, your smile dropped a little, time to get serious.

”Was this nightmare as bad as the others?” Illyana takes a sip, pulling her head away immediately. She starts blowing on the drink, wishing she did that before.

She shakes her head. “Not as bad, but...don’t want to go to sleep.” Taking the mug from her grasp, you pull the girl into a warm, comforting hug.

Illyana just needs a hug, that’s it. Just simple human contact. You hum satisfying feeling the Russian wrap her arms around your stomach, nuzzling deeper into your neck.   
  


You’re a great girlfriend! You’ll give yourself a pat on the back later, you tilt your head. “See? A hug can fix issues...sometimes...” Illya laughs at your pause, always uncertain about your answers.

You pull back, a warm smile painting your face. “How ‘bout some donuts and you explain your dream to me?”   
  


******  
  


Scenes from the movies continued to play as Illyana continued to explain her nightmare, trying her best to not have an emotional breakdown; but, her feelings betrayed her mind.

She continued to sniffle, lightly nibbling on her donut. She looked cute, but it wasn’t the right time for that. You took the treat away from her, her hands slowly trying to retrieve the treat you took from her.

”It’s not right for you to emotionally eat yourself, it’s like drinking. Not healthy.” She tries to put on an anger expression, but she’s just too emotionally tired and sleepy to even try.

Her body falls against yours, helpless. That’s one word to explain Illyana’s aura. Hopeless, helpless. She’s just tired, desperate to have these awful memories stop bothering her.   
  


“I-I took a man’s life...just because Belasco said so...” More sniffles followed after, before she started to gasp for air, she’s been crying too much and too hard.   
  


You fix your posture, pulling the vulnerable blonde against your chest. Nuzzling your body as close as possible, creating warmth for Illyana.   
  


You didn’t know what to say, you aren’t a professional therapist. You’ve been to therapy, but wasn’t trained for comforting people through traumatic stress. You were doing the best you could, and Illyana appreciates it. You’re shoulder to lean on and a person to talk to.

You ran your hand through her locks, trying to think how you could word this sentence, trying not to sound like an insensitive asshole. “Sorry for being quiet. It’s hard trying to word this, don’t want to say something wrong and make you feel more worse or alone.”   
  


You feel her body shuffle, trying to find a comfortable spot. She hides her face in your neck, kinda tickles when she breathes. “Thank you. For accepting and loving me for who I am, and taking your time to spend it with me.  
  


You hum, kissing the top of her head. “Don’t worry. It’s only human, we all have something that bothers us. And it’s okay to talk to someone about it, it’s not okay to keep it to yourself and push it away. It just gets worse.”

Her head pulls away from the spot between your neck and shoulder. A warm smile that frames her face perfectly, leaning in closer than before.   
  


Your nose brushes against hers, forehead resting against each other’s. Your mouth parts to say something, but is sealed by Illyana’s.   
  


A kiss was the less of things you were expecting from her. She’s still getting use to the whole relationship thing and affection, but it’s nice to see her try and make the first move.   
  


This wasn’t how your night was supposed to be, just another boring, cold movie night. Alone with hot chocolate, but your girlfriend showing up for some comfort and cuddles, is the best thing you could ask for.


End file.
